- I thought I had to be rich to invest, but I also knew that money grows the longer it is in the market.
- So with just a few dollars a week, I started investing in Acorns and contributed consistently.
- I also opened up to the Roth IRA after a bit of Google research and have been building wealth ever since.
- Read more stories from Personal Finance Insider.
The prevailing belief in the United States is that you have to make a lot of money to start investing. This may once have been true, and that’s it is it will be easier to start if you come from a family of investors who taught you how from an early age, but the beginning becomes easier and easier (with the invention of applications that allow you, for example, to complete purchases). That was true for me.
I started my investment journey with the robo-advisor app
When I was 23 and finishing my master’s degree, I didn’t have enough knowledge about investing. I had no idea how to get started and couldn’t find anyone who could explain it to me. I theoretically knew that time was on my side and that it was better to start with something than to wait until I found out more. So I took a robo-advisory application and I started investing a few dollars a week (I used Acorn, but there are much more now than when I started). That allowed me to take advantage of that compound interest without risking too much before I actually made an income.
Over the next few years, I followed personal finance websites and learned as much as I could. I opened a self-governing Roth IRA and I started investing money when I started my first full-time position at 24 years old. I kept adding to both this account and the
robo-advisor
for years, as I explore the differences between individual stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds, and do my best to diversify my accounts with a little bit of each.
At first it seemed to me that I was not doing anything – I was putting small amounts of money in each week and earning coins on the dollar. To see also : Using Roth IRA As Place to Park Emergency Funds – RealClearMarkets.
But I kept adding a robo-account and choosing different stocks and ETFs on my Roth account. I still haven’t maximized my IRA – my income remained around $ 20,000 for a few years while living abroad – but I was constantly investing something. Eventually I saw my bills grow into four-digit ones and I felt like I was making progress. I started creating achievable monthly goals to stay motivated – and to more easily visualize my progress – which slowly began to explain more significant growth.
In the end, I made the most of the IRA and began to see gains
I continued to learn more, reading various sources like Amanda Holden,, A colorful fool, and Personal Finance Insider, and by diversifying my investments. In 2019, I returned to the United States and eventually started earning a real salary again, taking advantage of my employer’s retirement plan, and in 2020, increasing my Roth IRA for the first time.
After five years of feeling like I was investing too little to see the difference — and began to think people were right when they said you had to invest large sums to accumulate it — my accounts went into five digits and I began to see real wealth. In fact, during the six months of 2021, I it increased my net worth by $ 30,000 (from -15,000 USD to +15,000 USD) by continuing my clear investment strategy and adding as much as possible to my brokerage accounts.
It’s still a challenge – learning a language investment is like learning a new language – but it’s a learning curve that makes it easier to navigate. I’ve made a few mistakes along the way, but I’ve generally experienced significant growth and I don’t regret starting before I learned everything. To see also : The 6 questions to ask when saving for retirement. In fact, I credit my early investment habit with the progress I have made.
At the beginning, the process was slow, but it paid off completely
For me, starting to work with a robo-advisor and an account for self-management (one for personal investments and one for retirement) made me feel like I was missing nothing. When it comes to which bank to use, I did a simple Google search “comparison of investment banks” and opted for the one that seemed to have what I needed. I spend a few minutes each day browsing personal finance websites and using what I’ve learned for better informed choices.
At first it went slowly – and can be discouraging – but I’m finally starting to see the difference. See the article : 3 Potential Retirement Surprises You’ll Want to Get Ahead Of. It will be some time before I reach millions, but I no longer wonder if I will ever be able to retire – now I can calculate and see the possibilities.
